An absorbent article having a side sheet subjected to design embossing is known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-110225). The invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-110225 is intended to efficiently produce an absorbent article without causing breakage of a sheet material, in which wrinkling or twisting does not readily occur, flexibility decreases less, touch to skin is good, stuffiness does not readily occur, an embossed part with high visibility is provided, and satisfactory leakage prevention is achieved. However, the embossed part disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-110225 has the same color as that of the non-embossed part and visibility is not necessarily high.
An absorbent article having a side sheet in which a pattern is formed by printing is also known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-181192). The invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-181192 is intended to let a wearer know the presence of the side sheet by printing a pattern and providing a sense of security in terms of leakage prevention, and for keeping the printing ink from substantially contacting the skin of the wearer, a method of forming a recess part by an emboss roll and at the same time, transferring ink to the bottom of the recess part, a method of printing a pattern on the surface not in direct contact with the skin of the wearer, i.e., on the back surface of the side sheet, and a method of printing a pattern on the back surface sheet are disclosed.